Skopje, 9 October 2023 (MIA) — North Macedonia's VAT of 18 percent is the lowest in the region and a 5-percent VAT is applied to as many as 1,600 basic consumer goods, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said in response to reporters' questions Monday.

A 10-percent VAT was applied to many other goods despite some of them being considered "luxuries" or "not so healthy, like potato chips," Kovachevski said.

"The entire list of products was published a while ago on the Ministry of Finance website," he recalled, adding that these tax cuts had contributed to lowering the costs of living.

"We live in times of economic crisis throughout Europe," he said, "which is why we also increased the minimum wage and average salary as well as pensions."

Kovachevski added that the minimum wage would again be increased in early 2024. However, he said, there would be no increase in the tax on consumption.

"Our country has the lowest VAT rate in the region. In Greece, it is 21 percent. In Serbia and Albania, 20 percent. In Croatia, 25 percent. And North Macedonia has a basic VAT rate of 18 percent. When we introduced the tax reform, we took into consideration all the economic chambers' and other stakeholders' requests," the prime minister said.

Talking to the press after a conference on investments into the Macedonian economy, he said the five-percent VAT was also applied to period products, processed baby food, and seeds and fertilizers used in growing food. mr/